Until Tomorrow
by Sensue
Summary: Tony Stark was a futurist, for better or worse. He knew what was coming, the horrors the world would see - but no one, not even his team would believe him. (Tony's point of view, crossover with Next Avengers. Prompt Fill.)
1. What he knew

_NOTES: I assume that everyone knows the events of Iron Man and the Avengers movies. If you don't, please go rent and watch it – you'll thank me later – then come back and read this. I'm planning on adjusting the "bad-guy" in the Next Avengers since Ultron was defeated in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since we're a few years away from Avengers – Infinity War, I'm going to pretend that Tony's biggest fear did occur. But the timeline was after they'd all settled down and had families. Some of the families don't make any sense after Age of Ultron – Banner / Romanov for example. I am switching out Torrun (Thor's Daughter) for Skaar (Hulk's son)._

 _James Rogers doesn't make sense as the son of Captain America and Black Widow – since she's sterile. So, he's the son of Captain America and Agent 13 now. I had to make a FEW changes to fit the storyline and to have it make sense._

 _As for the time travel timeline, I'm re-setting the story before Civil War and after Age of Ultron in the MCU. For the Next Avengers, I'm just rewriting it. The children will be young – and Pym will have been a baby at the time. (The older kids still in grade school.) I'm also keeping Jarvis! I like Friday, but Jarvis is my guy._

Fear was not an emotion that Tony Stark liked to entertain. Throughout his life, his ability to command scenarios and situations with an arch of an eyebrow and tone of voice filled him with confidence in both the battlefield and meeting rooms. He was used to being able to throw off his opponents, using his wit to either distract or unarm those who attacked him.

There were only a few moments in his life where fear left him paralyzed. The attacks he'd suffered by his business partner / father-figure Obadiah Stane had left him irrevocably damaged. Being captured, tortured, and threatened by the very weapons he'd designed in Afghanistan created the Knight, had created Iron Man. That day, he turned his fear into a weapon – a way to escape the Ten Rings who held him. From that point on, Stark had made it his mission to protect the world from terrorists; unknowing that Obadiah was just waiting until he was stripped of everything he'd worked to build before ripping his heart out and leaving him to die.

Gasping for breath, he crawled to find the gift Pepper had saved as an inside joke between them. The 'Proof that Tony Stark has a Heart' arc reactor literally saved his life – not once, but twice. As he thrust it into the hole in his chest, he could hear his dear friend's last words once more. "Don't waste your life," Ho Yinsen gasped before taking his last breath.

Defeating Stane had become another milestone in Tony's life. He no longer trusted that anyone had his best interests in mind – and took control over his role as Iron Man. He revealed to the world his intentions and dared those who would stop his mission to challenge him.

From that point on, it was Iron Man who put fear in evil-doers, fighting with everything in his disposal to stop men like Stane. It went well; his stocks and business skyrocketing as he inspired the world with his good deed. If only things had stayed the same, if only the world hadn't been attacked by aliens…

The New York City Invasion, as the world had coined it, had not only introduced humanity to extraterrestrial life, it had created the Avengers. Stark remembered he had thrown the jab at Loki that his team was 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' before getting thrown off his building through a sheet of glass.

Knowing that the World Council had been ready to decimate his City with a nuclear device in efforts to defeat the Chitauri army had put more fear into him than slowly dying of palladium poisoning. He only needed to imagine all of his associates, coworkers, researchers, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, and the members of his team being burnt to a crisp before being blown apart by shockwaves into dust to launch into action – hitting a two-in-one. He rode the nuke through the wormhole, destroyed the Chitauri Mothership and saved millions of lives in one-fell-swoop.

The only thing it cost him was a few years' worth of sleep and a healthy mindset. PTSD from that that day haunted him – filling him with fear that one day, the Chitauri would return with more than one mothership and no wormhole to close.

It was that fear that lead to the creation of Ultron. Yeah, thinking back on it, Stark had to admit that it wasn't his best idea to come to fruition. He'd fought for it, knowing in his heart that the intergalactic battle he foresaw would only be a matter of time. They would be back – they would bring more firepower. Power that humanity could not yet even imagine, if Thor's warnings were to be believed. Tony had seen only a glimpse of Asgardian technology and it was breathtakingly advanced. He'd arrogantly thought he could harness Loki's Scepter into Ultron and save the world.

Unfortunately, Ultron became the very danger Stark had tried to prevent. The team fought against him – tried to stop him and discredit his concerns. It was hard to come back as a team after that.

Yes, the Avengers came together when called but, it was getting harder to relate. Captain America, Steve Rogers, thought Tony needed 'help' - that Tony was letting his paranoia about a future attack effect every aspect of his life. Tony wanted to argue that it wasn't the case, but even his girlfriend had agreed with Rogers. His non-stop preparations for the upcoming attack were what drove Pepper away. He'd begged her to stay with him – pleading his case that he was doing everything in his power to protect her. It only took a few more attacks to completely destroy their relationship; she'd been unable to be a superhero's girlfriend, as she put it. She couldn't live with him knowing every day could be his last – either through the explosions in the lab or a bad guy wanting to take on the Iron Man.

Dr. Bruce Banner had run away, terrified of Hulk's unyielding destruction under the influence of Maximoff's mind-trick, and taken his million-dollar untraceable aircraft with him. It had hurt him that another friend had abandoned him. The way they had connected – he'd only felt once before in his life in college with Rhodes. He'd looked for his friend and found him in the middle of nowhere, a savage jungle where a few hill-tribes still lived. Tony tried to invite him back, only to have the Hulk nearly rip his head off. From that point on, Tony kept an eye on Banner from afar and communicated only through monthly anonymous chat messages.

Thor had to return to Asgard, the asshole hadn't even helped clean up the mess that he and his insane brother created every time they visited the 'Realm of Midgard'. Apparently, the All-Father had ordered him to return home and barred him from seeing his fair Lady Jane again, decreeing that his eldest son was to marry and produce _an Asgardian heir_ to the throne sooner rather than later. How very lucky that his good friend Lady Sif was there to save him from an arranged marriage – instead using friendship as the backbone of what would be a respectful and agreeable unity.

Vision, Clint, Natasha, and Steve lived their lives… doing their best to try and help humanity in their own way through what remained of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Years passed and the Avengers moved on with their lives. Cap married his girl (well, his original girl's niece – Sharon Carter), the agent who'd spied on him after he thawed out. Tony didn't show up to their wedding; Steve showed up after his honeymoon with Sharon to air out his disappointment of rejecting their invitation. Of course, the man didn't leave it there – threatening to pull him from the team unless he stopped obsessively creating weapons for what Cap called an 'imaginary threat'. The argument they had was one for the record books – neither of them speaking to the other outside of Avengers business.

Tony quickly realized that the rest of the team had followed suit. Clint stopped 'dropping by for a beer' biweekly, claiming his family had taken up all his free time. His wife was pregnant again; Clint joked that he and Laura were planning a bakers-dozen, before getting kneed in the groin by said-pregnant wife. Natasha didn't bother with an excuse – merely disappearing into thin air and reappearing when the team called her.

It had been lonely – only Happy and Rhodey stuck by him, checking up on him and dragging him out of his lab for air. Stark Industries ran like clockwork under new CEO Pepper Potts, and he had become a ghost – showing up when he finished a new invention that would benefit mankind. The media called him a recluse: bringing up his PTSD, time in Afghanistan, and him saving New York from a nuke constantly, which inevitably triggered an anxiety attack. His bots did his best to protect him from those stories, changing the television stations before they captured his attention.

The day he'd realized that he was truly alone was the day he was invited to a Christening. Apparently, Steve and Sharon Rogers had been pregnant. No one told him until almost a month after the baby was born. Steve had invited all of the Avengers to his new son's Christening and it would've been a media nightmare if Tony had been left out. Instead of celebrating the birth of James Rogers, the reporters would have focused on why Stark had not come to his teammate's joyous occasion and that was something both Rogers wanted to avoid like the plague.

The team was excited for the happy couple – all of them closely knit and moving together like family. It was obvious that he was being treated like the boss that everyone hated but felt obligated to invite. He'd spent a token couple of hours watching the team. Baby James was shown-off by his proud parents most of the night while Auntie Nat bounced Clint's newborn baby, Francis in her arms - fighting with a young woman named Hope over who would hold the babies next. Hope was apparently one of two new members of the Avengers; ones that he hadn't yet been introduced to. He put on his game face as he was introduced to Ant-Man/Giant-Man and the Wasp, acting like he had read their profiles and was happy they had agreed to join the team. Clint and Laura's kids ran around jumping from one uncle to another – enjoying every moment of attention they were given, even as the new babies overshadowed them. James was passed from one person to another, each loving him in their own way. Tony wasn't given an opportunity to hold the child, as Clint patted him on the back laughing that 'he knew better than to hand him the baby.'

The jokes didn't stop there. One after the other, comments related to his 'mental health' and 'imaginary alien armies' were injected into the conversations. They were treating him like a pariah – as if he were insane and feared being around him would spread the disease. Even Natasha remarked that enough time had passed that perhaps the aliens realized they were too far and too powerful of a species to be a threat. She cut him to the bone when she scolded him that he was wasting his life. Those words spoken aloud in a voice and tone different than Yinsen nearly broke him. He excused himself and fought to keep his emotions in check in the darkness of an empty room. It took him twenty minutes to return to the party with his usual nonchalant façade firmly in place.

When the large group had suddenly decided to change venue, and didn't invite him to join them, Tony bowed out gracefully to return to his workshop. He wished that he could've handled it better, but the event had shaken him. If his team ridiculed him for what he felt he needed to do, there was no use to trying to convince them or the rest of the world. They were happy to be naive and blind. Who was Stark to ruin their fantasies with what they believed was insanity?

He stopped the faux vanity that he'd perfected for the cameras. There seemed to be no reason for him to maintain the van dyke he'd always sported, allowing himself to grow a beard. The more time passed, the faster he created. Years of work helped him create a cache of weapons, a near-autonomous robot army, aircrafts, space-crafts, and his piece-de-la-crème, a hidden refuge. He'd practically built a city underground that was self-maintaining, fortified, shielded, and completely untraceable near the arctic circle if the worst should happen and the Earth should fail. It was large enough to house, feed, clothe, and support at least a hundred-thousand people for at least a generation. It had been built to be the most technologically advanced fortress the world had seen; practically the USS Enterprise complete with a medical bay, command center, recreation areas, training facilities, private bungalows, holodecks, and replicators. It would give them a fighting chance to win back the Earth. The arsenal was stuffed to the rim with the top of the line weaponry that Stark could create, using the Chitauri wreckage as the inspiration and blueprints for his newest designs.

It was the weapons he'd created that weighed heavily on his soul. He'd sworn that he'd never create another weapon – but knew of no other way to fight the coming enemy. Tony would rather hate himself for building weapons then letting his entire world burn in failing to prepare.

It was just a shame that no one else had felt that way. The Avengers had given him the boot – apparently, he'd been replaced by another billionaire from Wakanda. Once King T'Challa had offered to cover the costs of being Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers had quickly signed up the Black Panther to fill his spot on the team. Cap had been almost apologetic as he delivered the 'pink slip'. Before Rogers left, he'd promised that if Tony decided to rejoin the real-world, that he'd support him with the transition.

Tony'd offhandedly told Cap to "keep-in-touch" as he walked out the door, and much to his surprise, Rogers did. It wasn't often, but occasionally, he'd receive a letter sharing the team's accomplishments and good news.

News of weddings and baby showers soon came. Apparently, Francis and James had sparked baby-fever in the group. King T'Challa married Ororo Monroe, Storm of the X-Men, and soon introduced their son Azari as the prince of Wakanda. He'd received news that the Ant-Man and Wasp had married. Apparently, their relationship was rocky as he spent lots of time with his ex-wife in raising their daughter, Cassie. The Avengers had other priorities now – ones that were more important than Tony Stark and his crazy obsession. No one had time to listen about the preparations being made.

With each letter, Stark's fear grew. He could feel it in his gut – time was running out for the world.


	2. The attack

The attack decimated the world's major cities without warning. No one had seen them coming, not even Tony Stark with all of his advanced alert systems and technology. The United Nations scrambled to form a counter-attack, but were too slow to organize what would be a world-wide military defense. The United States wanted to oversee the military and had spent the critical first hours of the blitz attack arguing with China, Japan, Russia, and Europe over the military hierarchy.

Rhodey as the War Machine had been trying to protect the President of the United States during the initial attack. He stepped in front of the blasts intended for him. Neither Rhodey nor their country's leader had survived. Pepper and Happy had been in Washington, D.C. at a meeting in the Pentagon. The Pentagon and everyone in it were no more. In less than thirty minutes, the people he loved and were his only friends in the world were dead.

Stark screamed at the top of his lungs, hitting himself in the head over-and-over as he watched his nightmares come to life. With his expert knowledge of the Chitauri, the years of research and reverse-engineering their technology – he did not foresee that the Chitauri would join their forces with beings even more advanced. Those beings, the Skrull, had spaceships engineered with cloaks that his scanners could not detect. It was beyond Earth's stealth ships.

Worst of all, the Skrull had the ability to shapeshift and, of course, disguised themselves as humans to avoid detection. They had been gaining intelligence on their planet for years, planting themselves in key powerful positions around the world as they readied their attack. When the time had come, Stark imagined that for them, it must've been so simple shift into weapons and kill their targets.

Within the first twenty-four hours, nearly all of the world leaders had been assassinated, their largest cities lay in ruin, and the genocide of the human race had begun.

Hope Van Dyne, the Wasp, was the second Avenger to fall in the blitz. The Skrull had targeted her father, Hank Pym by planting a bomb in his office building. She died with her father, holding each other in their last moments as the entire building was leveled. Her husband, Scott Lang didn't even have time to grieve. The Ant-Man / Giant-Man was needed for battle.

All of the remaining Avengers, past and present, were called into action, led by Captain America, and the people held their collective breath that they would be saved. The world watched as Vision, Hawkeye, the Black Widow, Ant-Man, Storm, the Black Panther, the Hulk and Iron Man joined forces once again for the safety of the planet.

The Earth's Mightiest Heroes fought with every fiber of their being. Captain America managed to stop the internal squabbling and lead the surviving members of the military into battle. The battle waged on for days without end. Exhaustion, hunger, and thirst consumed the soldiers by the fourth day of the non-stop attack. The Chitauri and Skrull didn't need to eat or rest like humans did. Their evolution created the perfect soldier – no super serum or vita-rays necessary. Stark supplied new weapons to anyone who was willing to fight, but the Chitauri grew stronger and the firepower that had once worked did no longer.

It was only after Wakanda surrendered after being seized that the Avengers retreated. King T'Challa had been killed defending his country from the invaders. Storm ordered their best men to escape with their son, Azari, and deliver him to Hawkeye's safe house before putting up a white flag and surrendering. The enemy accepted by slitting Storm's throat on international television.

The world watched her die, suddenly realizing that there was no surrender. They realized the enemy didn't want prisoners, nor resources – all the aliens were here to do was kill everyone on the planet – all as a tribute to Lady Death.

The Avengers retreat crippled morale. People were losing hope and panic swept through the world. Politicians begged for lenience. None was found. The military had record numbers of M.I.A.s, some disappearing as they fled, others killed by shapeshifters undetected in their ranks. Paranoia swept through the survivors – soon everyone was an enemy.

When the team ran to Barton's safe house where the children were being protected. Stark, for once, was silent and completely numb in his exhaustion. He couldn't even sit down because his Iron Man suit was fused together from the artillery hits, it was beat to hell and he couldn't get out of it without help. The Hulk didn't argue with the command to let Dr. Banner come out, the green goliath was more than ready to rest. Banner ended up in a naked puddle in the middle of the Barton's recently renovated living room.

The house was quiet after that, no one spoke as the gravity of the situation was made crystal clear to everyone.

Cries had interrupted their contemplation. Tony was puzzled until Natasha told him that Hope had delivered her and Scott's child three months before the attack, before her death. They'd named him Henry Pym after Hope's father. Scott had a daughter from a previous marriage that lived with his ex-wife. He couldn't convince his ex or his daughter, Cassie, to leave their entire family behind to hide in a safe house. Scott cried like a baby when Cassie told him that if she was going to die, she wanted to be with her mother.

The baby missed his mother, Scott cried, unable to keep his grief from overwhelming him as tears streamed down his face and cradling his son against his war-torn chest.

The other children poked their heads from their hiding spots, and upon seeing who was there, ran to their parents for comfort. Laura Barton followed behind, her eyes red. Stark hadn't seen her in years. He noticed that the once kindly woman looked depressed, haggard and fearful. Tony imagined that the stress of raising and protecting the children wore her down.

Stark shouted out in warning when he spotted a green tinged-skinned child launching himself at the still unconscious man on the floor. Cap jumped in front of the boy when he moved to blast him with his repulsors.

The commotion woke Banner from his sleep, and upon seeing the child, moved to embrace him tightly. When he realized that his old friend hadn't been introduced to the children, he pulled the shy boy from his arms and moved him to stand upright. His name was Skaar and he was the son of Hulk. Stark knew that Bruce was saddened that he wouldn't be able to have children, but neither of them considered the Hulk in the equation.

It was then that the team remembered that they'd cut Tony out of their lives as he planned for the events that had shattered the Earth. Rogers collapsed before Tony's feet begging for forgiveness. Tony couldn't respond, knowing if he spoke, he would express the bitter feelings of betrayal he'd kept inside his heart. Instead, he lay his still-armored hand on Cap's head in peace. It was too late for apologies, too late for forgiveness and regrets. They needed to win or they would all die.

The Iron Man stood straight in the middle of the room to speak to the Avengers and finally – finally was heard. He spoke of the robot army built, the weapon caches hidden throughout the world, the hidden sanctuary and his two brand-new prototype personnel transports that would clandestinely take them to the sanctuary. They were small – each had only room enough for three adults.

For a few minutes, no one spoke as they absorbed the new knowledge offered freely. Stark had given the team something that they hadn't had since the attack, he'd given them hope.

Stark had dreamt that the team would rally, come together as they did before. They seemed to have other plans.

Steve Rogers, the father, not the soldier, picked up his son James and placed him in Iron Man's arms. 'You and Laura take the children to the sanctuary. Don't tell anyone where it is – not even us. I know you have room for more, a lot more – but it's too dangerous. All it would take is one infiltrator and the entire bunker would be gone. Unless you come up with a way to determine Human from Skrull – don't let anyone in. Use Vision to directly communicate with the team. Don't trust anyone else.'

Tony stared at the little boy wriggling around in his arms – he wasn't surprised at the child's discomfort, they were strangers after all and he wasn't the best at holding things that didn't belong to him. He shook his head as he allowed James to gently slip out of his arms to the floor, "No, you or Scott should go in my place. The kids need a father. They don't need me."

Clint, who'd been silent thus far, only gave a grim smile and returned "No, Stark. The kids need you. We all needed you. If the Avengers fall, you're the only one who can save us."

"Save us? How can I save us? This is my fault! I should've seen this – I should've planned for this. I wasn't smart enough to foresee this." Tony spat out, the rage and bitterness he'd been suppressing came out in a flood. Tears spilled from his eyes as he felt his failure.

"You were," Natasha disagreed, "You were smart enough foresee this, Tony. If we had helped you, instead of ignoring you – this might not have happened. We were so blind and stupid… But the past is in the past, and we'll have to live the rest of our lives knowing that our ignorance nearly killed the human race. But you, Tony Stark, are not to blame. None of us want to hear you take the fate of the world on your shoulders. We were – we are a team. As a team, we're asking you to protect the most important people that we have left in this world. They are our hope; they are our future. Ask JARVIS to send the vehicles – we need to do this now."

The team nodded giving their children a kiss goodbye before passing them to their savior. Tony heard Scott whisper, "I love you, Bug. I'm going to get your big sister and make sure you and the Peanut are together." Scott Lang cradled the baby for a moment longer, then held him out for Stark to accept. "His name is Henry Pym-Lang. He takes after his mother…" the sentence broke into a sob, "I need to find my daughter, her mother, and her step-father. Once I do, I'll contact Vision to arrange transport."

Cap formed a plan, "If your transports can hold 3 adults, they'll be able to each hold one adult and four children. Tony, you'll transport James, Henry, Azari, and Skaar in one. And Laura, you'll transport your kids: Francis, Nathanial, Cooper, and Lila in the second vehicle."

Tony nodded his acceptance, awkwardly holding the baby against his armor. Bruce gently guided his son to stand in front of his friend. "I don't trust a single other person in this entire universe to take care of him… Skaar's a good boy, but you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Stark was startled at the implication, but then nodded in understanding. Of course, a child of Hulk would love to smash.

Azari was a quiet child, barely four, but already traumatized by the death of his parents. He tucked himself into a small ball, barely speaking, and only doing what he was told. The child had been cared for by Laura, as she 'adopted' him into her troop. He held onto her as if she were the only person left in his world. It broke their hearts to pull him away from her, promising that it was only for a short while and they'd see each other in when they arrived in the refuge.

The crafts were small, but in this case, so were the children. Before they got in, he had Cap and Bruce help him out of his armor and stored the damaged Iron Man suit in the bulkhead in pieces. Tony had passed the baby to Skaar, who seemed to be the eldest and asked him to take care of the other children as he and JARVIS piloted the vehicles passed enemy combatants. Tony made sure the windows were darkened – he didn't want the children to see the bodies festering in the air as they made the 19 hour journey to the Artic.

He set both aircrafts on auto-pilot after a while, each making their way north. The children were frightened, the only peeps that he heard were from the baby – who was too young to silence himself. The boys were shivering, so Tony turned up the heating to make it comfortable. He tried to smile, to comfort them as they clung to each other, but he couldn't. Not until they were safe. He opened the com-link to the other transport, checking up on Laura and her children. She seemed anxious, but okay. The kids were singing road trip songs.

Tony kept his earpiece in, asking JARVIS to keep him informed of the war being waged without him. He opened a container of dried fruit and passed it to the children, urging them to eat. They thanked him quietly and shared the snack quietly. He mixed up the baby's formula with water. He'd gone to hand the bottle to Bruce's son, when the boy stood and held out the baby – assuming the adult would want to feed the baby. Thankfully, the tiny baby seemed to know what to do – grasping hold of the bottle and sucking down the milk as he was held awkwardly. He managed to slide down the wall without dropping the baby so that he could sit by the boys. The kids looked at him nervously, so he put on his game face and pretended like he was an old-hat at taking care of kids.

Tony tried to keep the conversation going as the baby was fed, asking each child questions about their favorite video games or toys. He told them funny stories and got them to laugh, even Azari gave a giggle. After the baby fell asleep in his arms, he gently passed him over to Azari – thinking that the poor child needed something else to think about other than the death of his parents. JARVIS had kept a collection of music and videos – mostly Tony's favorites – which, if anyone asked he would deny, also included Disney's Wall-E, the Iron Giant, and the Despicable Me collection. Who didn't love the minions?

He started the movies, making sure they were warm, fed, and relatively safe before heading back into the cockpit. He kept the coms open so he could hear the children if they needed him. Out of his presence, the kids spoke of their fears – worried about their parents and questioning why they were made to leave with a stranger to them. James asked, "Is he an uncle? Why did my Daddy give me to him? Is he supposed to be our new Daddy?"

Skaar, who had yet to speak, confidently assured them, "No, he's our parents' friend. My Father told me that Tony Stark was a genius; and that if anything happened to him that I was supposed to run to Tony. He promised that he wouldn't hurt me, try to experiment on me or turn me over to General Ross... I think we'll be safe if we stick together."

Azari whispered, "He seems nice… he was funny. And he likes robot movies… so he's at least a little bit cool." When he heard that, Tony had to smile. It would take some time, but he'd make sure they were save and sound. After the war was done, they'd be back with their families and he would could go back to making the world a better place through technology.


	3. Unforeseen

Other than a few detours away from the active battlefields, it had been smooth sailing for the first ten hours. It had been boring traveling with only children and JARVIS for company. Excluding the 'are we there yets' that they'd ask him every twenty minutes, the kids were well behaved. It was after the seventh time that James asked 'how much longer?' that Tony introduced the boys to JARVIS and welcomed them to ask the A.I. _that_ question anytime they wanted. If J was human, Tony could imagine the revenge that would follow, but as his trust A.I., Tony knew that he was patient with anyone he deemed a child to no end, some days including Tony in that circle.

He checked in on Laura's ship and based on JARVIS's reports, it seemed the Barton family had fallen asleep. It was dark, eleven in the evening and he anticipated the kids wouldn't be awake for much longer. The reports were dire, but the weapon caches that he'd hidden throughout the world were helping. The Avengers were back in the fight after food and rest, the knowledge that their children would soon be safe inspired them. 'Captain America's rallying speech was a good one,' Tony thought, 'definitely one of the top five!'

The speech did encourage him and he couldn't wait for them to arrive in the refuge. Stark needed to get back to work and figure out a way to scientifically differentiate Skrull from Humans. He'd show Laura and the kids to their bunker, then head back to his lab.

His mind was focused on a trying to see if could somehow acquire a Skrull body to run blood and tissue tests. He wished Bruce was with him – the man was a genius when it came to physiological / biological sciences. He sat at the helm and read through different cell differentiation theories and polarity. The children's chatter has slowed to nothing and he turned on the screens to make sure they were asleep.

Then it happened, the Barton's vehicle had a ten second power loss – those things happened in a prototype vehicle. They are programmed to save speed, altitude, momentum, climate control, and engine control. Non-essential systems were rerouted to critical tasks that would keep the aircraft flying. For those ten seconds, the craft's cloaks had flickered.

That's all it took for the Chitauri ships to find it and blast it out of the sky.

"NOOOO!" The explosion and Tony's screams were loud enough that the boys woke up, screaming at the noise. "No. No. NOOOO!" He hit the glass as if he could break through and launch himself at the ships. He reached for his suitcase, planning to on his Iron Man armor and attack. James stopped him – gripping hold of his leg in fear, crying loud enough to cut through the rage. The baby was screaming bloody murder, fists waving in the air from the blanket on the floor wanting someone to pick him up and comfort him. Azari curled up into a ball in the corner, his small body was shaking and Skaar was turning a darker shade of green, getting bulkier.

Stark forced himself to stop, reassess, and control his current surroundings. The Barton's were surely dead – there was nothing he could do for them anymore. He had four terrified children in his care. Stark picked up Skaar, resting his head on his shoulder and rocking the little boy back and forth in his arms. "I'm sorry for shouting. I didn't mean to scare you." James refused to let go of his leg so he walked around, picking up his leg high enough so he boy didn't drag on the floor.

James whimpered, "What happened? Why did you scream like that?"

Azari lifted his tear-stained face to add, "I want Auntie Laura."

Tony couldn't stop the tears as he broke the news, "I'm sorry… I broke my promise to you. I didn't keep your Aunt Laura safe. She, Lila, Cooper, Nathanial and Francis are dead."

He put both children clutching at him to the ground, then picked up the crying baby off the ground and pulled Azari into his lap. Using the arm not cradling Henry, he cuddled James and Skaar, one on each of his sides. "I'm so sorry, boys. I'm so sorry. I should've done better." He let the children cry, comforting them as best as he could until they fell into an exhausted sleep – cuddled like puppies together in a pile.

"JARVIS," Tony whispered, "if this ship has a power fluctuation, route power to the cloak. Sacrifice temperature control, sacrifice the refrigeration units, cut lights – you get the point, J… stealth mode is now a critical ship process."

"Yes, sir. I understand. And, sir, I am sorry for your loss."

Tony nodded, blinking back tears, "Thanks, J. How much longer until our arrival?"

"We will get there when we get there, sir."

Blinking, Tony snorted, amused, at the response. "Yeah, I deserved that. How many times did they ask you?"

"Forty-five times in a two-hour window, sir. To answer your original question, we will arrive in seven hours and eighteen minutes, sir. Would you like me to call Agent Barton for you sir?" The A.I. spoke in quiet tones, not wanting to disturb his master or wake the children.

"I can't… Orders are to communicate directly through Vision. Vision won't arrive at the Refuge for at least five days. It's too risky to phone him. The bastards hacked our communication satellites. There's nothing Barton can do anyway – and, dammit, humanity needs him at his best. We can't let him, or any of them, lose focus out there, it's a death sentence. And I'm a selfish asshole, but I can't lose anyone else right now, J."

"I understand, sir. It is a prudent decision." JARVIS paused, then hesitantly spoke, "May I recommend that you get some sleep. You have been awake for eight-two hours now, sir. I will keep guard over you and the children."

Stark was silent for a long time, then responded, "Thanks, J. Wake me if there is any sign that we've got company."

"I will, sir. Sleep well."


	4. Kandor

Tony and the boys arrived at the Refuge without any further issues. Skaar had taken to calling it Kandor, which apparently was the only city left in Krypton, a comic-book story. The kids liked it – gave them something to be hopeful about. They still had hope that Superman would come and save the day.

It took a long time to get used to having the boys around while he worked, especially the baby. He'd been counting on having Laura there to do the heavy-lifting when it came to child-rearing. Tony had no idea how any parent could manage it. He literally couldn't leave the kids alone for even five minutes.

He took to strapping Henry across his chest with a make-shift baby sling. It stopped him from crying all day, hearing a heart-beat seemed to calm him; even one being held together with an arc reactor. Jarvis reminded him to when it was time to feed him, though, he started being able to anticipate it. The kid bit him with his gums when he was hungry.

Scott's nickname made sense now. Henry was definitely a 'bug'.

Skaar, James, and Azari were a completely different story. Skaar was developmentally at the level of a teen, even though he looked like he was about seven-years-old. His language skills were incredible, taking after his father – Bruce, that is, not the Hulk. The kid was also super strong – he broke things all of the time, then came up to him looking crushed and telling him that it was an accident. Tony knew the other kids teased him about it… He tried to keep him occupied with 'projects' that he and Azari worked on together.

Four-year-old Azari loved robots. He loved exploring, learning new things – like languages, and _hiding_. The boy really liked to hide. After having several heart-attacks that he'd managed to lose the kid, Stark started hiding trackers in Azari's clothes. He asked Jarvis to keep a close eye on him – that unless he entered a dangerous area – to let him keep his hiding spots a 'secret.' When he didn't hide, Azari was so serious. Stark knew the kid was depressed; he'd lost everyone and now was stuck in a place he didn't know. The only thing he could do is try to distract him… keep him occupied on the present.

James was five-years-old. It was the age that kids started to go to school, play in recess, learn the alphabet and get cooties from girls. It wasn't the age where you went into hiding because the world was ending. Of the kids in Tony's care, James was the hardest. The kid hated to sit still. He had the attention span of a gold-fish; he'd jump from one thing to another, whining that he was bored constantly. Thankfully, Tony himself suffered the same – and knew of several things that would keep the kid from bouncing off the walls.

Soon, the kids had a 'play-area' near his workstation where he could keep an eye on them. He was thankful for the care-package that the Avengers snuck onboard. Tony had only thought to bring his own high-tech toys with him; he wasn't a parent, he didn't know what kids needed. It was only after the kids went to bed the first night and he had time to empty the cargo-hold that he noticed a box that he'd never seen before.

It was a box of toys, crayons, coloring books, dress-up cowboy gear, and Legos. Tons and tons of Legos. There was even an 'Avengers' set, with mini-Avenger Lego men (+ the black widow – yay for inclusivity.) Scott must've added in a bag for the baby. It was full of pacifiers, chew toys, raddles, and three plush toys: a bee, a peanut, and something else Tony didn't recognize – it was the ugliest and dirtiest toy he'd ever seen.

He was thankful for the Star Trek-like food replicators for formula, cheerios, chicken nuggets, ketchup, and fries. The kids would've starved without. He found it also helpful to produce diapers. The little bug seemed to need one every other hour. Jarvis was his life-saver; Jarvis walked him through changing his first diaper as the boys giggled non-stop at his struggles.

It was tough, waiting for the boys to fall asleep before being able to work on the more dangerous aspects of his research. He was itching to blow something up. Like James, he hated waiting for news.

Vision was late – he was due to have arrived two days previously. The thought that something must have happened to the Avengers kept Tony up all night. He tapped into as many frequencies as he could in 'read-only' mode trying to find a way around being tracked by the invaders. He needed his satellites back.

It was slow going… He'd like to think that he was a genius, but even a genius stopped being able to reason under severe stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation.

When Vision finally appeared, it startled Tony so bad his knees started trembling as he stood. Vision had phased himself through the holodesk he'd been working on and hadn't been expecting it.

Vision gripped Tony's shoulder, guiding him to a seat near the desk. "I am sorry to have frightened you."

"You're late. What happened?" Tony preferred bad news first – there was no use to putting off the inevitable. It was best to just get it over with and come up with a plan of attack. That was the philosophy that had served him throughout his life. It would serve him until his dying day – however long that might be.

"Simply, Sir – the human race seems to have lost this war. The Chitauri got a hold of the Tesseract; it is unknown how, as the Tesseract was expected to have been secure in Asgard in the vaults of the House of Odin. A portal was opened and enemy forces arrived by the thousands." Vision paused, then gentled his tone upon seeing how his friend paled. "The Avengers – they fought with every fiber of their being, but they fell one-by-one. The only survivor was the Hulk, but after the Avengers fell, he retreated. The Hulk's whereabouts are currently unknown. Reports have indicated that he was injured in the battle and went into hiding to recuperate."

Tears burned in Tony's eyes, both despair and rage filled him, but he kept those emotions buried until he knew everything. "What are our current numbers? Who's still fighting?"

"The human population has taken a severe hit – I believe the death toll is now in the tens of millions. There were no survivors to be found in New York City, Tokyo or Washington D.C. It was the first city that the invaders decimated. As for the 'who is still fighting question', there are remnants of S.H.I.E.D., the United States Armed Forces, and other militia groups who have banded together. They are researching appropriate countermeasures; unfortunately, nuclear devices are no longer an option."

Tony frowned, "How do you know that?"

"South Korea, Russia, and China all launched nuclear warheads at the motherships – mirroring the actions that you, yourself, took in the first strike. It seems that our enemies have created an anti-nuclear device to neutralize the detonation and its effects on their ships. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stop the utter destruction that obliterated the cities and the citizens who lived there. By attacking using nuclear-powered devices, the humans merely assisted in their own destruction."

"Shit!" Tony threw the nearest thing on the desk against the wall. It felt good to see it shatter. The noise, of course, woke the baby, who started screaming as loud as his little lungs would allow. Tony wasn't in the state to hold the baby – his entire body was flooded with adrenaline – if he tried to pick up Henry, the kid would probably end up with shaken baby syndrome. So, he let him cry; hoping that the other children were so exhausted they slept through the noise.

Vision waited for a few minutes, then asked, "Will Mrs. Barton attend to the child?"

Tony choked, the hold he had on his emotions were slipping. "She – they – the Bartons didn't make it." Tears streamed down his face, "The bastards blew up their ship. I couldn't even turn back to bury their bodies. I – I was terrified to tell Clint that his family was gone. It seems that I don't to have to worry about breaking the news to him, huh…"

Tony collapsed on the ground, his arms wrapped around his legs – as if he could literally hold himself together. A few moments later, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Vision tried to comfort him as much as he knew how. The baby softly sobbed until he fell back asleep.

"I am sorry, Mr. Stark. The losses we've faced, they are indescribable. I am unsure how to handle the terror I see in all those around me – but I want to try to help. Perhaps, I could help you… It might not be much, but I will find their bodies and bury them for you, sir. They will be put to rest with Clint – they'll be together in the end."

What seemed to be hours later, Tony lifted his head. "Thank you, Vision. Thank you for everything. This wasn't your fight. Hell, it's not even your race, but still, you fought for humanity."

"As I've said before, I am on the side of life. And humans are incredible lifeforms."

Tony stared at his screens, trying to think of the next steps – trying to outthink his enemy. "Vision, the next time you visit – could you bring back a few bodies? I want to run a few experiments on the Krull as well as the Chitauri – perhaps there's something biological we could use against them."

"Of course, I will do as you asked. Is there anything else that I can bring back for you or the children?" Vision seemed to hesitate. "What will you tell the children about their parents?"

"I'll tell them the truth." Tony said confidentially, "there's no point to lying to them. Kids are smarter than you think. They'll know something is wrong. Trying to hide the fact that their parents are dead – well, that's not going to help anyone; they'll assume their parents abandoned them, and that's worse."

"Yes. It would be." Vision repeated, "Can I bring back anything for you, sir?"

"A drink would be nice. Bring me back a case of top shelf, if it still exists." Tony breathed, "If you could go and bring back the Avengers' and the Barton's bodies – I'd like to bury them here. I'll setup a memorial for them. That way, they'll always be near their children and watch over them from heaven."

"Heaven, sir? I didn't realize that you believed in a Higher Being or God." Vision was curious to learn more. For as long as he'd known Tony Stark, he had believed the man was an atheist.

"I don't. But, Cap and the others did. The fucking bastards died and left me alone with their kids and now, I have to raise them the way they wanted. And that means those kids will grow up to believe that their parents went to heaven when they died. My opinions no longer matter."

Vision gave a small smile, "That is an incredibly mature point of view, sir."

Tony returned the smile, a ghost of his normal one, "It's amazing how the apocalypse forces you to grow up."

"If you're okay for the evening, sir, I'll head out now. I should be back in the morning."

"Thanks, Viz."


End file.
